The ministry of injustice and no human rights in Angola

Abstract

Angola is one of the few countries in the world that boasts a dedicated Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. But does this translate into a wider implementation of these rights? This article provides a historical overview of the trajectory of Human Rights in Angola through the analysis of different moments and iterations of the performance of (in)justice since the country’s independence in November 1975 – from the political trials of the mercenaries in 1976-1977 and the events surrounding 27 May 1977 to the post-electoral massacres and persecutions in 1992 and 1993, the persecution of human rights activists in the post-Arab Spring period and, since 2019, the implementation of a public reconciliation commission (CIVICOP). Through this longitudinal approach, which highlights continuities in the trajectory of Human Rights in Angola in the transition from the 20th to the 21st centuries, I argue that the case of Angola illustrates the paradox of how a governance-based implementation of a Human Rights agenda can actually prevent its enactment and implementation. This is explained through the incorporation and subsumption of Human Rights into political agendas as a performative display.